A downright weird début full-length from this new Italian group, Mourning Mist will surprise and delight those who enjoy leftfield underground metal. With every member contributing vocals and the band replacing the usual second guitarist with a violinist, Mourning Mist are definitely unique, playing an uneasy style of out-there black metal that's immediately interesting. Where the band stutter are when it comes to implementing their sound into a set of cohesive songs, as although the tracks here are promising, there's not enough pieces in place to make it an outright recommendation yet.

If Mourning Mist remind me of anyone, it's A Forest of Stars. The Italians have that sense of psychedelic atmosphere and alternate take on black metal, but instead of turning this into lengthy pieces like the British band did on their début The Corpse of Rebirth, the tracks here are more snapshots of a sound in development. Opener The Flowing is practically an intro piece, all ominous feedback and build-up, with the violin screeching beneath the guitar almost like a keyboard. It serves to show off the band's capable instrumental skills rather than set the tone of the album and as such is a bit too long at seven minutes, despite turning more towards atmospheric black metal in the second half. The following Freefall is better, making more interesting use of the violin and building compellingly to a song in less than a minute, speedy blackened riffing underpinning the violin, although I didn't like the sudden shift into psychedelic madness with a sampled female voice atop cacophony, even if the moment when it restarts the black metal at double the previous speed is rather cool...

Rage is probably the most A Forest of Stars-y track present with shouted vocals and more of a folk feel to its stuttering black metal. The album definitely gets better as it goes on, the sample that opens Torment feeling relevant to the mournful yet melodic black metal that follows, settling into a pleasantly melodic groove given atmosphere by the shrieking violin. Rise and Decay is a torrential downpour of black metal, given focus and atmospheric drama by the guitar; probably the best track present at over nine minutes long, which gives the band a chance to explore their progressive leanings and show off how hypnotic their music can be. That's the direction I'd like to see them explore, and hopefully further albums will allow Mourning Mist to one day be as good as this album suggests that they will be.